Smart cooking for busy moms- meal planning
Deciding on the menu every day is no easy task. You don't believe me? Ask your mom. A lady who does it for her family every single day!
Recently my friend (a single mother with a full-time job), asked me for a few tips to save time in meal prep. Since our meals are Indian, I'm going to talk about simple North Indian meals, which can be put together as fast as possible.
Before we get down to specifics, we need some planning.
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Make time. Even 5 minutes will do!
Sounds cliched, but it works. Take a little time every day to sort out the plan for the next day. If you can, make a weekly plan and be stress-free for the week. Sometimes, just knowing what needs to be done is enough.
Prepare a list before grocery shopping
After deciding what you want to cook, go grocery shopping. You can also look into your pantry before making a meal plan for the week or the next day. Figure out the things that might expire and use them up.
Make extra for the next meal.
We know that fresh is best, but some basics can be used in a variety of recipes.
When boiling chickpeas for hummus, keep some aside to toss into a salad or Kabuli pulao planned in the next meal (or even the next day). The extra hummus can be used in the sandwich for a snack in the kid's box.
When making gatte ki sabzi, boil some extra ones which can be used in making gatta pulao.
Extra paneer can be used in dishes which include small amounts of mixes eg. in paneer jhalfrezi, navratten pulao, veg. navratan curry etc.
Idli batter can be used for dosa, appe , uttapum etc. So make a large batch.
Sprouts are a great addition in salads or can be cooked as vegetables themselves.
Improvise with the leftovers.
Left overs can make a great accompaniment to the next meal.
Raw, uncooked veggies can be put into khichdi or pao bhaji.
Dals can be kneaded into dough and made into paranthas, or mixed with potatoes to make cutlets etc.
Left over rice can be made into a variety of recipes like tava pulao, curd rice, tadka rice etc.
Use stale chapatties for making khankhras or roti poha.
Handy prep ideas
Buy a batch of tomatoes and make puree for the week. you can cook the puree in oil to increase the shelf life. This comes especially handy when you have unexpected guests.
Always have ginger-garlic paste in the fridge. You can make a batch every week as per your needs.
Keep boiled potatoes handy in the fridge. They can be teamed up with anything to make a dish.
Clean all your greens like palak, bathua, methi, etc. You can even boil and puree them in advance for use in recipes like palak paneer, palak chole, palak ka parantha, bathua raita, etc.
Pasta can be boiled and kept. The sauce can be made in advance. It'll be super easy to put together in the evening after coming back from the office.
Boiled dal can be kept for the evening. You just have to put tadka and heat it for a warm, comforting meal in the evening.
Veggies like capsicum, carrots, beans can be cut in advance and kept in Ziploc bags or boxes in the fridge. This way, they will be readily available for use.
Shell the peas and blanch them. They will cook in lesser time.
Make a big batch of chutneys (green and sweet imli). They can accompany any meal and liven it up.
Keep fruit salt like eno at home. This way making instant dhokla, sooji idli etc, can be super easy as no soaking will be involved.
If you are geared for a super busy week, you can half cooked chapati, paranthas, stuff parantha and keep them in the freezer.
These are a few things which can be done to ease out the stress of a busy week. You need to be creative with your ideas and model them to your needs. I would love to receive feedback and queries upon it.
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